were looking for a murderer after a 40-year-old Ridgewood man was declared dead after being found unconscious early Monday morning on Higgins Street in Flushing near the neighborhood’s border with College Point.

Higgins is a dusty industrial street near the Whitestone Expressway lined with suppliers, garages and other businesses.

On Tuesday morning, a latex glove and what appeared to be a blood stain sat in front of the glass door and window store, at 31-37 Higgins St., though police said they responded to a 911 call at about 1:48 a.m. Monday reporting an unconscious man lying in front of 31-29 Higgins, which houses Kang Cheng (USA) Inc., a restaurant supplier.

EMS also responded and they transported the victim to Flushing Hospital, where Ronald Grice, of 570 Jamaica Ave., Apt. No. 418 in Ridgewood, was pronounced dead on arrival.

A Kang Cheng worker said Tuesday morning no one he knows who works on the block has any information about the slaying because it happened in the middle of the night when all the businesses were closed.

The city Office of the Medical Examiner classified the death as a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head. The investigation was ongoing and the dead man’s identity was being withheld pending notification of his family as of Tuesday evening.

The murder was the third of the year for the 109th Precinct. As of May 1, 2010, there had only been one murder in the confines of the precinct, which includes Flushing, Queensboro Hill, College Point, Malba, Whitestone, Beechhurst and Bay Terrace.

Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.